ABPI launches manifesto to make Scotland a leader in R&D and cutting-edge medicines

The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) today launched its manifesto for the next Scottish Government, calling for urgent action to unlock Scotland’s full potential as a partner of choice for life sciences and health innovation.

Ahead of the next Scottish Parliament elections, ABPI Scotland: A Manifesto for Health and Growth, calls on all parties to commit to policies that improve patient outcomes, strengthen NHS delivery, and attract globally mobile investment in R&D and advanced manufacturing to Scotland. 

The pharmaceutical industry plays a vital role in Scotland’s health and economy — supporting over 15,000 high-value jobs and contributing more than £1.7 billion annually. These achievements are made possible by strong collaboration across the “triple helix” of government (including the NHS), academia and industry.

Scotland’s life sciences sector has the tools and talent to lead the world. However, uptake of new medicines in Scotland remains slow and uneven. Patients face postcode lotteries and delays, which risk widening inequalities, pushing some towards private care while others face worsening health, lost income, and greater strain on families.

Richard Torbett, ABPI Chief Executive, said: “Better health and a stronger economy go hand in hand, and Scotland can have both. With the right policy choices, Scotland can become a powerhouse for the discovery, development and delivery of cutting-edge medicines, vaccines and diagnostics.

“The next Scottish Parliament offers a critical window to reset industrial and NHS innovation policy to attract investment and benefit patients, but global competition for that investment has never been higher.

“The opportunity from Scotland’s life sciences sector is real — but unlocking it depends on bold choices that put research, innovation and patient access at the heart of Scotland’s health and industrial strategy.”

The manifesto sets out the changes needed to guarantee timely patient access to new medicines and vaccines, support Scotland to lead in research and innovation, and drive digital transformation by harnessing health data responsibly for care and research.

However, patients in Scotland still wait too long for access to new treatments. On average, it takes 374 days for a medicine to become available after it receives its licence, and only 28% of medicines available to European patients are fully accessible in line with their licence in Scotland — far behind Germany (90%) and England (37%).

Richard Torbett continued: “Every patient should be able to access Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) - approved treatments quickly, consistently and fairly. Spending on medicines must be recognised as an investment in health as well as NHS efficiency and financial sustainability.

“By investing in cutting-edge treatments and vaccines, we can drive disease prevention, improve treatable mortality, and generate economic growth for Scotland by reducing economic inactivity.”

The ABPI manifesto recommends the following three key areas of focus for the next Scottish government:  

To make sure patients can access cutting-edge treatments and vaccines:

• Reward rapid adoption: Financially incentivise Health Boards that quickly adopt cost-effective innovations.
• Support a world-class Scottish Medicines Consortium: Ensure it keeps pace with scientific advances and is properly resourced.
• Shine a light on performance: Require Health Boards to report adoption of accepted medicines, using a comply-or-explain model.

To make Scotland a leader in research and innovation:

• Scale ‘triple-helix’ collaboration — build on the industry-funded CATALYST programme, by reinvesting NHS revenues from industry trials to create a long-term financially sustainable, world-class trials environment in Scotland.
• Increase transparency — publish commercial trial income by Board and site-level performance data to highlight strengths and drive improvement.
• Adopt “Once for Scotland” approvals and deliver the fastest set-up and most reliable patient recruitment in the UK
• Strengthen NHS–industry partnerships, and improve horizon scanning for future innovations 

To power Scotland’s health future through effective use of health data:  

• Drive a national data strategy: The Health Secretary should lead a Once for Scotland approach to health data — enabling safe, efficient use for research and innovation  
• Rebuild core infrastructure: Restore condition reporting in primary care, invest in disease registries, and create a single metadata directory of NHS datasets to enable meaningful analysis and insight. 
• Enable access and build trust: Set out how industry can partner safely with the NHS on data-driven research; deliver annual updates on progress and strengthen public confidence through transparent governance and communication.